Alphatracks

April 28, 2010: Website SonyAlphaRumors has posted photos they say they received from an anonymous reader. The source claims to have snapped the images in a bar in Asia. While the story sounds a bit like the recent Gizmoto-Apple iPhone dustup, apparently the Nex3 was not left at the bar and no one tried to sell the prototype to anyone.

Like any prototype/rumor story, there is no way to confirm that the camera in the photos will resemble the final product, but I would guess it is pretty close. The word is that Sony will introduce the new cameras on May 11, so it would seem that any real-world testing would involve prototypes that are very close to the real deal.

SonyAlphaRumors expects there will be two models at launch, the Nex3 and Nex5. The principle difference between the two will be the video capabilities, with the Nex5 shooting at 1080p, and the Nex3 limited to 720p. Both cameras will use a APS-C size, 14mp ExmorHD sensor.

SAR is also claiming that unlike the Sony Alpha dSLRs, the Nex models will not have image stabilization in the body. They claim the 16mm 2.8 lens shown in the photos has image stabilization built in to it. SAR theorizes that this will make it easier to add stabilization for video recording.

While most commentators are obsessed with the lens, I was much more intrigued by the flash unit. I had assumed that the new cameras would have some sort of pop-up flash, but the camera in the bar shots is using what appears to be a small, detachable external flash. The flash doesn’t resemble any current Sony Alpha flash, so it will apparently be a new design. Since the mockups at the PMA show did not have a hot shoe, I’m not sure how the flash attaches to the Nex3 and Nex5.

There may still be a small pop-up flash on the cameras, with the external flash providing better flash range. On the other hand, it is possible that there is no popup flash and you will need an external flash for any auxiliary illumination. If so, I hope Sony offers an off-camera cord so users can move the flash away from the camera.

Finally, I am really hoping Sony will offer an external viewfinder, similar to the one Olympus sells for their micro four-thirds models. I was able to play with one of these recently and the extra-cost viewfinder made a real difference when shooting in direct sunlight.

Time will tell, as May 11 is less than two weeks away. Bring it!

Visit the Nex3 and Nex5 pages at SonyAlphaRumors.

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April 22. 2010 A few weeks ago, I attended the “Picture Perfect” weekend at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. The program included several photo workshops and gear demonstrations. After the workshop concluded, I wandered over to the Orchid Conservatory and collected some new images.

The conservatory is great location for photographs. In the first place, it is filled with exotic, colorful flowers, most of which you won’t see in the average garden. So the conservatory offers up an almost unlimited array of vivid subjects.

Beyond that, the lighting at the DSBG Conservatory is fantastic. There is glass in nearly every direction, and the resulting shadow-free light can turn an ordinary snapshot into a portfolio photo.

Finally, because you are indoors, there is no breeze to disturb the leaves and petals. Don’t get me wrong, I love taking my Sony Alpha dSLR outdoors and capturing nature photos. But when you are trying to capture razor sharp close-ups, any kind of breeze becomes a frustration. You get the composition just right, then a cats paw comes up and shifts your subject around.

Inside a conservatory, there are no sudden gusts, so the flowers remain stationary while you arrange your shot. You can take all the time you need to set up your image, confident that the focus and composition won’t change.

I put together a gallery of my best images from the DSBG Orchid Conservatory. While there was plenty of light to shoot hand-held, I used a tripod for the bulk of the shooting that day. Because my subjects were unlikely to move, placing the camera on a tripod allowed me to set critical focus knowing I wouldn’t shift the lens toward or away from the flowers.

Although I used a wide-ange lens to capture some establishing shots, photographing orchids is work for long lenses. I used the Minolta 70-210 f/4 “beercan” for the majority of my gallery images. The beercan features a close-focusing mode, as well as wonderful bokeh in the out of focus areas.

I’m pretty happy with my results. If there is an indoor conservatory in your area, grab a tripod, your camera and some long, close-focusing lenses. If it is anything liker the Daniel Stowe Conservatory, you will come away with some great photos!

View the DSBG Orchid Gallery

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BarCamp Charlotte returned to Area 15 in Charlotte’s NODA district, and I was on hand for the third edition. BarCampCLT just keeps getting better, and I really enjoyed my time at the “un-conference.”

I’ve posted galleries of the pervious Charlotte Bar Camps on Alphatracks. For the third edition, I choose to shoot everything with available light; no flash. I also wound up shooting the entire day without using a single A-mount lens. My lenses for this shoot were the Minolta Rokkor 58mm f/1.4, the Rokkor 16mm f/2.8 and the Vivitar 135mm f/2.8.

I chose these lenses over my comparable A-mount lenses because they were the fastest lenses I own for their particular focal length. Most of my A-mount zooms feature a maximum aperture of f/3.5 or f/4 and I needed more aperture. So I used my older lenses with an A-mount adapter and would up setting the exposure manually for everything.

I wasn’t trying to be cute by limiting myself to non-auto-focus A-mount glass, it simply worked out that my fastest lenses for the task proved to be manual-focus lenses attached to the Sony Alpha A350 with an adapter.

I did bring a couple of flash units, but I elected not to use them, in-part because I had gotten nice available results at Area 15 in the past. Since the last time I was at the facility, however, the main room was extensively refurbished.

In the past, the walls were cream painted cinderblock and the ceiling beams were natural wood. Over the winter the artists at Area 15 gave the room a complete makeover. The walls are now covered in dark green and purple hues, while a dark brown color covers the ceiling.

The darker colors required shooting at a higher ISO, even with fast glass. I’m not suggesting the room itself is dark, as it is well-lit and airy. But the dark tones absorbed all the stray light, requiring me to use a higher ISO to capture the feel I was looking for.

Higher ISO, of course, creates more noise. The images still look good, but I think the flash images I shot in the past were cleaner overall. Still, it was nice to shoot candids without the flash alerting my subjects they were being photographed.

If you look through the entire BarCamp Charlotte 3 gallery, you’ll note the ISO I used varied between 200 and 1600. I shot RAW and processed everything in Adobe Lightroom. I used Lightroom’s noise reduction settings to clean up the noise in the 800 and 1600 ISO images.

Overall, I was pleased with the available light images. For the next Bar Camp, however, I think I may return to bouncing electronic flash off the ceiling for certain images.

Here is the Bar Camp Charlotte 3 photo gallery

The official Bar Camp Charlotte website

The Area 15 Website

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